Madam Satan

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R T @crillovision Oct 1, 2026 Oh brother- is this a burden and a half. If you skip the first 2/3rds you might get some laughs overall but this is probably the worst possible of a long list of stinky DeMille productions. The endless blather between the 4 principles kills it right out of the gate and the the poor leads have to go on and on about what love really is, what it really means, blah blah whenever they are not singing numbers that were outdated when they were performing them. Lillian Roth gets the only good lines, songs and even she gets overburdened with the snail-like progression of yak that crawls into the finale. Luckily the windup is a beauty though - at a costume party on a blimp with a huge staged musical number that is beyond description involving machinery and electricity followed by the dirigible being destroyed by a lightning storm and all of the passengers parachuted to safety. The entire rest of the picture is an overburdened schizoid snorefest. See more Thomas V @TomVee Jul 6, 2026 This movie is pure insanity. We swap three different genres, from bedroom farce to ultra lavish Busby Berkeley-esque 30s musical, to disaster movie. None of which are particularly well written or acted, but that's not what De Mille is about. He's all about the spectacle, and he's about as good a director of humans as George Lucas. Still, this is a really fun watch despite its many flaws, and there's a lot of laughs, both intentional and unintentional. It's also deeply weird, and that's a good thing. Worth seeing just for the sheer nuttiness of it all. See more Oct 19, 2019 a bit of a slow start, but the performances are universally splendid and the dialogue is clever. It is so quick that you may be startled by its sparkle. See more Dec 19, 2017 The first part of this movie is just awful, and I think everyone but the most forgiving of viewers will find themselves rolling their eyes, cringing, or maybe even snoozing. The acting is poor, the cadence of the dialogue awkward, and character motivations often nonsensical. All I can say is, stick with it. There is silliness throughout the movie, but it gets much more entertaining as it develops, and there are some pretty wild scenes that ultimately made me like it, somewhat to my surprise. The premise of the movie is an age-old theme; a wife (Kay Johnson) does not like her husband's late nights boozing it up and philandering (he's played by Reginald Denny), while he doesn't like her coolness and lack of passion. "Don't you understand? Love can't be kept in cold storage. It's a battery that has to be recharged every day," he says, with clear sexual overtones. However, she's aware that he's having an affair, having found a note from his mistress (Lillian Roth) after he comes home drunk with a buddy (Roland Young). As a little indication of the silliness, the two men are sloppy to the point that they're showering with one another with their clothes on. Husband and wife argue and separate, even though it's clear they still love one another. Lillian Roth really lights up the screen and gives the movie its first real spark with her short musical number, "Low Down", shaking her hips and twirling about with a top hat (Google this one for a treat). When Johnson confronts Roth at the end of a mostly insufferable scene where all four principals are in her apartment, Roth points out that men, including Johnson's husband, appreciate her spiciness and fun. "What do I give him? I laugh when he does. I drink when he does! I give him a pal with lips to kiss and shoulders to hug. I give him a dream made out of perfume and soft lights. I jazz all the dullness out of his soul for him!" she says, warbling with a voice that sounds like pure 1930. Johnson vows to "raise her temperature" to win her husband back, and storms out. It's at this point that the movie gets good. Cut to a masquerade ball on a dirigible (of course!). The outfits (designed by Adrian) are wild, and the opening musical number is as well. Roth is getting a lot of attention from the men until Kay Johnson makes her dramatic appearance. Her transformation into 'Madame Satan' is excellent, and she really pulls off dressing up as a vixen, slinking around in a sexy outfit. Her husband finds himself attracted without knowing who she is, and things get crazy when the weather gets stormy. Suddenly we find ourselves in a disaster movie, and seven years before the Hindenburg. Director Cecil B. DeMille botched the first half of the movie, but really makes up for it in the second, with lots of nice moments, drama mixed with comedy, and risqué dialogue. The male performances from Denny and Young are pretty poor, but Roth and Johnson (when she's Madame Satan) make up for it. I may be rounding up a bit, but weirdly, I wound up liking it, and would watch it again. See more Oct 20, 2017 It was just a hair below OK. But the things that intrigued me most were the scenes in the zeppelin. They were realistic and the hedonistic parties were swell! See more May 26, 2014 DeMille's only musical is one of the strangest movies ever made; a hodgepodge of production numbers, sappy story, and disaster film aboard a zeppelin. See more Read all reviews

Madam Satan

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